From Dusk Till Dawn 3×10 ‘Dark Side of the Sun’ Recap and Review

We’re finally here—the finale. And it certainly ends with quite a bang. So Rambers, let’s get rambling!

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It starts with a flashback (?) The Gecko’s scout, waiting to rob a bank before cutting back to present day…

The Gates of Xibalba

Seth finds Freddie and his family, Scott and Kate—the latter is dying from blood loss after Amaru’s resurrection. With Seth’s assurance, Freddie takes his family to the hospital.

Meanwhile, having chained the Xibalban Zolo, Richie remains stuck in a car during daylight. With no choice, Richie makes a run for it, but quickly collapses from the sun. However as Amaru nears the mines, the sun is eclipsed allowing him to reach Amaru right when she opens the Gates to Xibalba. Everyone feels the earth tremble as the gates open.

Richie tries to fight Amaru, but is easily defeated and trapped. Amaru then begins to possess everyone from afar.

Rise of a Queen

The once captured culebras prepare to fight despite Kisa’s urging. Carlos counters—this fight belongs to them too and that these culebras see her asLa Diosa—their Goddess, their leader, even if she doesn’t see it herself. He mysteriously disappears as the culebras’ eyes become red, marking Amaru’s possession. They attack Kisa and begin killing each other. It forces Kisa’s hand and she transforms and announces herself as their queen, and they soon regain control of themselves. Amaru discovers she cannot possess Kisa.

Seth and Scott perform a blood transfusion on Kate, saving her. Kate, however, still sees visions of Amaru. Seth instructs Scott to take Kate to safety, however Kate wants to fight after everything Amaru has done. Kisa and the culebras arrive and Kate immediately apologies for killing Manola; Kisa assures her it wasn’t her fault.

Richie is still nowhere to be reached. The team learns that the Gate is the source of Amaru’s power and Kate says that she can stop Amaru by closing the gate. From a remote location, Kisa challenges Amaru to come to her—Amaru agrees while unleashing more of her monsters from Xibalba.

The Battle of Two Queens

Kisa, Seth, Kate, Scott and the culebras ready for battle. In order to get to the Gate, they have to walk through the ghost town. Seth frustrates Kate with his overprotectiveness, but their argument is interrupted as Amaru’s monster’s ambush, and Scott is pulled by one of the monsters through a window. Kate and Seth manage to save the younger Fuller before he’s completely consumed by the Xibalbans.

Kisa finds Carlos, unsure where he aligns. Carlos revealed that he actually failed the Labyrinth in season one and made a “deal with the devil” (Xibalba) and in turn cannot fight as he is a part of them. But he wants them to defeat Amaru to be free. Kisa eventually encounters Amaru and after the latter kills two culebras, the two women fight. Even though it seems like an equal match, Amaru freezes Kisa just as she’s about to transform and stabs Kisa in her wings. However, before she can kill her, Amaru is alarmed when learning Kate is still alive.

The Purge

At the hospital where Freddie and his family are staying, a number of the staff have become possessed initiating a whole slaughter. With the help of Dakota, Freddie guides his family to safety in one of the room. Dakota, however, becomes possessed and Freddie narrowly manages to kick Dakota out.

Carlos appears to Richie, encouraging to escape Amaru’s reigns before he disappears. After escaping the rubble, Sex Machine arrives and they work together to close the gate by trying to translate the symbols on the ground. Before they can figure out the last character, Sex Machine is possessed by Amaru. Zolo arrives to stop him from attacking Richie and helps the latter in translating the final character. Before they can close the gate, a possessed Sex Machine rises and the altercation leads to both Zolo and Richie getting pulled into Xibalba. Once Sex Machine regains controlled, he gets pulled in too.

Richie digs himself into Xibalba. Carlos appears and tells him he’s always had a little bit “Lucifer” in him and that he has the power to help defeat the Xibalban.

The Wicked Witch is Dead

After fighting through Amaru’s monsters, Kate, Scott and Seth arrive at the mine with Amaru following suit. Seth’s continued overprotectiveness and treatment of Kate frustrates her. She tells him the girl she should have been is gone. She confronts his inability to kill her to defeat Amaru before revealing that Amaru is still a part of her and that she is the key to clos the gate. However, Seth refuses to sacrifice Kate. The conversation is interrupted when Amaru captures Scott.

Amaru tells Seth that Richie is in Xibalba before she threatens to kill Scott and demands Kate’s surrender. Kate realizes Amaru can’t kill her because they are connected. Kate threatens to walk through the Gate; Seth threatens to shoot Kate’s knees to stop her from sacrificing herself while Amaru threatens to kill Scott once more. Kate confirms Amaru’s words—she wants to seek redemption in front of those she loves for what she’s done. Seth, finally understanding, gives in to Kate’s request and lets her get pulled into Xibalba. He shoots Scott in the head before Amaru can kill him. As he prepares to be killed, Kisa arrives and stabs Amaru. Scott heals and wakes up.

As Amaru threatens to take them all with her, Richie and Kate return from Xibalba and Kate rips through Amaru’s wounds. The souls Amaru consumed rip their way out of her before the she is pulled into Xibalba. Kate picks up Amaru’s necklace as Kisa comforts her. Throwing the necklace into Xibalba, the gate closes and the group escapes as the mine collapses.

A Fairy Tale Ending

At the hospital, the survivors regain control of themselves. Freddie and his wife make up after surviving all the chaos.

Scott makes an offer to Kate to come with him, however Kate declines due to how much has changed for her. Scott understands and they part on a bittersweet note. The rest of the team encounters Carlos who is now a free man. Carlos ask Seth what’s next for him—Seth says he doesn’t know, but is happy not knowing. Kisa and her new family of culebras decide to part ways, and Carlos, now a new person, says his goodbyes.

Richie and Seth leave together before Seth catches Kate smiling back at him.

The Gecko Brothers (Plus Kate) Are Back

So it turns out the flashback in the beginning of the episode wasn’t a flashback at all, but anepilogue. Post-Amaru, Richie and Seth have return to their old ways and attempt to rob a bank. As Seth and RIchie hold up the bank teller, Kate walks in the center of the Gecko brothers. Now a part of their team and adorned with matching shades, she holds the gun to the teller and tells her to “be cool” before the credits roll.

A new evil?

An officer walks out from the mine where the Gates of Xibalba was and gives Amaru’s necklace to his superior. So it may not be the last we see of Xibalba?

Final Thoughts

First, I have to say while this season has been generally lukewarm, but the last third of the season made ahugecomeback and truly felt like what the show was meant to be. Maybe the “monster-of-the-week” format didn’t necessarily work; however it’s apparent the show picked up as it became more serialized again.

Amaru:Amaru hadsomuch potential, however, she was far too two-dimensional as a villain. By the time we had any character development (episode 9), it was too late. Carlos, being so complexed was the character you liked androotedfor his downfall. But by comparison, I didn’t care much about Amaru’s fall. Her death was pretty disgusting and cool-looking at least.

Kisa/Santanico:I suppose there couldn’t be much done for Kisa’s storyline as they were working around Eiza Gonzalez’s film schedule. Despite her story being initiated byone dead girlfriend,it was great to see her and Carlos working together once more and to see her be the leader she has always meant to be. It was just a shame that it only took till thethirdseasonfinaleto see our two main female characters actually interact.

The Fullers and the Geckos:After such a powerful storyline between the Fullers last season, I wish they had a stronger story this season. As much as I love Seth and Kate’s relationship, some of the emotional storylines should have been shared with Scott considering he’s Kate’sbrother.

Nonetheless, even if it lacked execution, it was still oddly perfect at the same time. Scott and Kate were always the flipside of the Gecko brothers. Despite their age, they were stronger than them in a sense. “[They] need each other,” as their father once noted. However, their father’s words no longer apply to them now. With how much they both endured, they’re no longer children. By this time, they’ve deal with so much, and now they are fully integrated into the team as equals alongside their older allies.

Like the Gecko’s, the Fullers share a strong love and willingness to make sacrifices for each other. However, they don’t share the Gecko’s codependency—they don’t need to rely on each other and that in itself is a testament to their growing maturity and their journey in becoming adults. Scott’s been on his own for a while after making his own mistakes, which is probably why he understands more than anyone that Kate needs to do the same—at least for now. So while it may lack execution, their parting was befitting of these young characters’ journeys.

Which leads to Seth and Kate—these two have been through Hell together (sometimes a little literally) even if they weren’t together for most of the season. Seth has always placed Kate on a pedestal of goodness. Kate is Seth’s moral compass asDJ Cotrona likes to put; she’s someone to besaved. She’shisredemption. But the problem with that is Seth’s made Kate abouthim, and Seth eventually learns this it’snotabout him. Kate doesn’t need to be saved. Their paths to redemption may be alike and may be intertwined, but Kate’s path is still her own.

All this time, Kate’s agency was takenliterallyby Amaru and in another sense, bySethas well. So when Seth lets her go through the Gates of Xibalba—he allows her to make her own decisions. He recognizes her as an adult and this allows her agency to finally return to her own story.

I suppose this season’s happy ending is the sweet award to the tragedy of last season. There’s no culebra underworld, less emotional baggage—it’snormal, at least as normal as it could be. And with Kate now becoming the third piece of the Gecko Brothers’ team, it almost seems like a perfect fit to a puzzle. She’s no longer the little girl, but someone they consider a truepartner.

Sex Machine/Professor Tanner got sucked into Xibalba and never came out. Is that the last we’ve seen of him? No offense to Jake Busey, but I hope so. But if that cliffhanger said anything, it may not be.

What exactly happened with Kate and Richie inside Xibalba? It really wasn’t clear.

If you didn’t notice, the end credit song “Monsters” was sung by the show’s very own Madison Davenport!